Save Me a Dance
by FrickFrackDotNerd
Summary: Blake and Yang's feelings for one another develop, but how do you tell your best friend "I love you"?
1. Stitch me up

Blake had to suppress a sigh of relief as she quietly opened the door to her dorm. It had been a _very_ long night.

While her teammates had been eager to help her get to the bottom of Torchwick and the White Fang's plans at the start, their enthusiasm had waned in the face of late nights, excruciatingly long hours of boring surveillance, and what seemed to be an endless  
trail of dead ends. Blake's however, had not.

She could feel it, she was getting close and Torchwick knew it. His goons had started to get sloppy and scared. She didn't quite have them on the run, but soon she would either be able to stop them from unleashing whatever plans they had for Vale herself,  
or at the very least, enough evidence to turn them over to the authorities. That's why she couldn't give up.

Blake was in a grim mood but overall it had been a relatively successful evening of hunting. After having several enlightening _conversations_ with some low-level thugs she'd managed to track down a shipment of stolen dust to a warehouse in the theatre  
district. Sneaking up on the driver and taking out the pitiful security detail Torchwick had assigned hadn't been a problem. What she wasn't counting on was the White Fang backup that came pouring out of the warehouse at the first sign of trouble.

She was a huntress, and was a more skilled warrior than all of them combined, but still, taking down twelve armed fanatics had been no easy feat. That's why she was silently limping her way past her sleeping roommates to team RWBY's bathroom at one thirty  
in the morning instead of gratefully flopping into bed. The fight had drained every ounce of her aura which inevitably led to a few punches and kicks hitting their mark. She'd certainly have some colorful bruises to share at breakfast tomorrow.

Those she could shrug off, they were par for the course in her line of work. But towards the end of the fightshe'd gotten careless, and a desperate stab from a katana had sliced a deep gash across her ribs which was still bleeding steadily. To make  
matters worse, while she'd been busy dispatching the katana's wielder another terrorist had taken advantage of her blind spot and roughly kicked her knee drooping her to the ground. She'd fallen, but immediately rocketed upwards and dropped her assailant  
with a vicious elbow to the nose, before silencinghim with a downward chop from Gambol Shroud.

After placing an anonymous tip to the police as to the location of the ill-gotten dust, adrenaline had carried her swiftly and silently across the rooftops of Vale, but once she reached the safe haven of Beacon's campus her knee began to scream out in  
protest with every lurching step she took.

Closing the door as gently as she could, she flicked on the lights and made her way to the mirror. What she saw made her jump back in surprise for a second before drawing a rueful laugh from her throat. She looked worse off than she thought. Aside from  
a constellation of small cuts and scrapes, bruise was already starting to turn a sickly shade of yellow on her right cheek, highlighting the deep bags under her eyes. A lineof dried blood running down her chin lead up to a split lip.

After quickly washing her face free of gore the faunus' eyes anxiously jumped to the top of head to check her ever-present bow. Seeing as how it was perfectly tied as usual, she let herself relax.

Slowly and painfully, feeling her wounded side pull excruciatingly, she leaned down and grabbed the medical kit from under the sink. Opening it left her dismayed. They were running low on both bandages and medical tape. It looked as if their disinfectant  
alcohol was almost entirely used up too. Her nightly excursions had taken their toll on the team'ssupplies.

Turning to that which need the most attention, she gently lifted her shirt to inspect the mark the blade had left on her pale skin, Blake assessed the damage. While the blood surrounding it made it hard to judge exactly, the wound seemed to be about four  
inches long, and deep. She could see some raw muscle exposed to the cool night air. There was no way around it, she was going to need stitches. _And it's probably going to scar_ she thought bitterly.

Resigned to at least another hour or two without sleep, Blake tossed her blouse in the corner and sat down on the toilet lid, unscrewing the bottle of disinfectant. Closing her eyes tight and clenching her teeth, she dumped what was left of the bottle  
onto the gash, cleaning it as best as she could.

Hissing as the burning liquid did its painful work, she fumbled around and,up the needle (Weiss always made sure that all their equipment was perfectly clean and sterile), she set to work. It was not easy, the placement of the wound made it difficult  
for her to suture, and she flinched every time the needle pierced her flesh. Stitch after stich went in with unsteady fingers, shaky from fatigue, and after three, she realized that she probably wasn't even halfway done.

"You're making a real mess of that." The voice made her jump, she briefly thought about reachingfor Gambol Shroud, but realized that she had left it leaning next to her bed. Slowly she brought her eyes up to meet the violet gaze of her blonde partner  
who was propped against the doorframe with arms crossed.

Unconsciously, Blake ran her eyes up and down Yang's exposed legs which seemed to go on for miles. The thought drifted into her mind that it was entirely unfair for her to look so _good_ in pajama shorts before she quickly banished it, ablush  
rising to her cheeks. _Get a grip Belladonna._

Yang, thankfully, seemed not to notice and lifted herself off the frame and moved into the bathroom "Here, let me." Without thinking Blake started to turn away casting her eyes to the floor.

"It's fine." Yang paused and placed her hands on her hips

"Really? Because your first and second stitch are almost an inch apart. All you'd have to do is yawn and those things would pop right open." Looking down and the haphazard stitching, the dark haired girl realized that her partner was telling the truth.  
She'd let her exhaustion get the better of her and done a sloppy job. She mentally chastised herself, before bashfully holding out the needle and thread.

Yang took them without another word and knelt down. She deftly removedthe faunus' sloppy handiwork, before beginning a row of surgically neat stitches. Blake let her work in comfortable silence for a moment before her curiosity get the better of  
her.

"How'd you get so good at this?" Yang smirked down at her hands, not breaking the rhythm of her stitching.

"Well, when your baby sister's two hobbies are giant monsters and a five-foot scythe that turns into a gun, you have to learn these things." Her smile faded slightly but she didn't look up. "I got a lot of practice after my mom died. I mean my dad was  
still around but he was kind of… out of touch. He'd mostly be away on long solo hunts, and when he was home he'd go on walks in the woods alone for hours. It took me a while before I understood why. Mom wasn't the first woman that he'd lost but the  
second."

Yang fell silent, seemingly lost in her memories but Blake was too curious. She hadn't known anything about this bit of her partner's past, though to be fair, she hadn't really asked either. Now seemed like as good a time as any.

"Who was the first?" she whispered, and the blonde girl's face instantly hardenred.

"Raven Branwen. My mother.

"But I thought you said-" Yang put up a hand to stop her, pausing her work for the first time.

"Raven might have given birth to me, but Summer was my _mom_. She was a hunter like my dad, and she was like supermom;baker of cookies and slayer of evil monsters. Raven abandoned me when I was still a baby, she gave up the right to be called  
my , that should be good." Without her noticing, Yang had finished bandaging up her side and stepped back to admire her work. For the first time, Blake was keenly aware that she was in only her bra, and felt the heat return to her face.

"Why didn't you ever try to track you mo- Raven down?" Blake spat out to fill what felt like a _very_ uncomfortable silence before inwardly cringing at how insensitive that question probably sounded. The blonde just sighed and grabbed a cloth, kneeling  
again as she began to clean the cuts from Blake's hands.

"I did, for a while. Eventually I found this old picture in my dad's photo album. It showed all of team STRQ, the team my mom and dad were on with Raven and my uncle Qrow, standing in front of some cabin in the woods. I remembered my parents used to tell  
me stories of a cabin they all lived in on Patch before Raven and my dad settled down to start a family. So, I waited for dad to leave the house, loaded up ruby in a wagon and went off to find it, convinced she would still be living there."

"You went out _alone?_ How old were you?" Blake couldn't keep the shock out of her voice. She knew that Patch was pretty safe, but no wild place in Remnant was completely clear of grimm. The idea of two children wandering a forest unchaperoned was  
ludicrous. Yang's grimace showed she seemed to share her opinion, and she moved to wiping the scrapes on her face clear, and Blake couldn't help but notice how good her partner's hair smelled this close.

"Not old enough. We walked for hours. I could barely stand. We were just outside the cabin door when I heard the first growl. A pack of beowolves had surrounded us. There we were, a toddler and a stupid little girl too exhausted to run away." She let  
out a bitter chuckle

"We would have been toast if my uncle hadn't been crashing in the cabin to sleep off a bender.I would've gotten myself killed, would have gotten Ruby killed.." She trailed off as she finished wiping the blood off Blake's lips. She kept her eye's  
fixed on the faunus' mouth before blinking and quickly turning away to rummage through the med-kit, muttering something about buying more bandages when she went into town.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Blake whispered, humbled that Yang would share the intimate memory of one of her biggest mistakes. The taller girl clenched her fingers against the porcelain of the sink so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Because I want you to know what it's like. I want you to know that I understand what it's like to have a search control you, how it feels to be so desperate for answers that you're willing to do anything, even let yourself get hurt…" Realization suddenly  
dawned on Blake, and she found herself annoyed with her teammate.

"Yang… I'm sorry about what happened, and I get what you're trying to tell me but this, Torchwick, it isn't the same. I'm not a child and-"

'I'm _not_ telling you to stop." The blonde interrupted, wheeling on her with a red glaze in her eyes, having activated her semblance in frustration. "I haven't. To this day I still want to know what happened! Why she… why she left me. But I know  
that running myself into the ground isn't going to solve anything!" Though the outburst shocked her, and angering her partner like thisfrightened her, Blake wasn't going to be shut down so easily.

"You don't understand! I'm the only one who can stop them!"

"Really? Can you even stop me?" Yang shot back, jumping atthe faunus and firmly pressing two fingers against the fresh stitches, causing Blake to yelp in pain. The red in Yang'seyes drained to a cool violet as a look of horror shot across  
her face. "I'm sorry!" she murmured, wrapping her arms around Blake in a tight hug. This also caused the dark haired girl's muscles to ache, but she was able to bear it and melt into the embrace. After a moment they separated, but Yang kept their  
faces inches apart.

"I'm not asking you to stop, just to slow down. If not for your own sake then for the people who care about you… and for me." As she finished she trailed a finger slowly down her partners jaw. Blake nodded with a dry swallow.

A heartbeat later, Yang was wearing her trademark grin and Blake's heart melted. She leant up and pressed a soft kiss on the faunus' head whispering "Get some rest" into her hair sending electric shivers down her spine. Jumping up, the blonde turned to  
walk out of the bathroom before pausing at the threshold.

"I-if you feel up to it, meet me at the dance tomorrow night?" she asked with an uncharacteristic timidity in her tone.

"That would be nice." Blake was able to choke out, though she wasn't sure if her partner could hear it over the sound of her heart hammering in her chest. Apparently she had, as she turned around to face her with a blush on her face. _Had she actually made_ Yang  
Xia Long _blush?_

"Perfect, can't wait!" Yang replied cheerily before padding back into the dark dorm room.

As Blake began cleaning up the medical supplies strewn around the bathroom, she found herself looking forward to tomorrow for reasons that had nothing to do with Roman Torchwick.


	2. Dancin' blues

Yang was nervous, and that frustrated her. Yang Xiao Long was cool, collected, and most importantly _calm_ under pressure. So she tried her best to hide her frustration, but then she became nervous that everyone could see she was frustrated, and quickly gave up trying.

She stood at the entrance to the ballroom which had been decorated earlier that day by an excited Nora, and a slightly less enthusiastic Ren with balloons and streamers in Beacon's colors. Yang had volunteered to work as a greeter because her naturally bubbly personality made it easy to create a welcoming attitude for the dance. She'd also volunteered because she wanted to see Blake as soon as she walked in the door.

Since their conversation last night she'd felt like she'd been walking on air. That was the closest she'd ever been to her teammate and the experience just left her wanting to do it all over again as soon as possible, minus stitching up Blake's side, of course. She wouldn't mind getting out of her shirt again though.

Yang had been shocked when her reserved teammate had actually agreed to go to the dance, usually big social gatherings were the kind of thing Blake stayed as far away from as possible, preferring to stick her nose in one of her books in a quiet corner. So when Blake actually agreed, Yang took it as a good sign. Maybe the faunus girl felt the same way she did, she certainly didn't shrink away from any of her not-so-subtle touches last night. She knew that getting involved with a teammate was always a risky idea but hey, her dad had done it. Twice. Things worked out for him for the most part, maybe that kind of luck was in her blood.

Fidgeting with the edge of her dress, Yang started to wonder if maybe her choice of attire had been a little bit overkill. She wanted to impress Blake, and that afternoon had asked Weiss if she could borrow something from the heiress' closet. She had raised an eyebrow, but after spluttering out some flimsy excuse about forgetting to do her laundry this week, Weiss had assented and given her the silky pouf she currently felt like she was bursting out of.

The dress was designed for Weiss' petite frame and it didn't exactly fit Yang correctly. She scowled down at the neckline. _Should've worn the yellow sundress with the neckline deep enough to sink a ship in_ she thought _it never hurts to show a little skin_.

So far, the night had gone pretty well. Ruby looked beautiful dressed in her chaste little red apron dress and wobbling so adorably in her "lady stilts." Her original excitement was tempered by seeing her baby sister wearing makeup for the first time, courtesy of Ruby's fashion-conscious partner. She really was a good looking girl, and she'd start getting asked out on dates sooner rather than later. Then Yang might have to start cracking heads.

At the current moment however, Ruby was standing awkwardly by the punchbowl next to Jaune. That was fine, he may be goofy and loud, but ultimately Jaune was harmless. Weiss was hopelessly trying to make a wilted flower stand up straight. She'd been at it for the past ten minutes and Yang was pretty sure she was upset about something, but right now she had her own problems to worry about.

She'd been staring around the room when she heard the front door swing open, and she plastered on her friendliest smile before turning to the entry way. The expression didn't last long as her eyes widened and her mouth popped into an "o" when she saw who'd strolled in.

Blake always looked stunning, she rivaled Yang for how much attention she paid to her appearance, but tonight she'd gone all out. The grey cocktail dress clung to her curves before ending mid-thigh, and she balanced gracefully on simple matte black stilettos. A long strip down the side of the dress showed off enough pale skin to make Yang's mouth go dry. As her aura had healed her scrapes and bruises from the night before, she'd gone minimalistic with her makeup, choosing to add only a little blush to her cheeks, and mascara to highlight her long lashes. As always, her black bow was fixed tightly atop her head to cover up the cat ears which resided there.

Yang had stared for maybe a moment or two too long, as Blake had made her way halfway towards her before she noticed that her arm was wound firmly around Sun's. Yang's gut twisted at the sight. She liked Sun, the monkey faunus was friendly and seemed to be a genuinely good person but tonight with the way he rested his hand on top of Blake's, all she wanted to do was grab him by his stupid tie and bash him in the nose until he stopped wearing that slap-happy smirk.

"Hiya Yang!" Sun called out, raising an arm with a smile.

Yang thought about asking _What are you doing with her don't you know she said she'd go with me, idiot?_ But instead settled for "Hi Sun, welcome to the party!" with what she hoped look more like a grin than a grimace.

"Hi Yang, you left the room before I had a chance to see you" her partner said in her usual soft spoken tone. "I like your dress."

Yang tried her best to fight back a blush but the warmth in her cheeks told her it was a losing battle. "Hi Blake! Yeah, sorry real busy with you know, party stuff. You look great by the way, like _really_ great." She cringed internally. That had definitely been too strong. _Reign it in Yang, reign it in. She's here with Sun._ The reminder made her want to cringe all over again.

Blake however, seemed to perk up at the compliment. "Really? Weiss helped me pick it out but I was worried it wasn't really me."

"Weiss helped you get dressed too? I actually got this from her closet" Yang said, gesturing down at herself "I guess we're just better at getting ready to fight grimm than we are getting ready to dance!"

"I guess you're right, I'm not very familiar with these kinds of things." Blake replied with what Yang found to be an _irresistibly_ adorable giggle.

"C'mon Blakey, you look great and you know it!" Sun all but shouted from her side. Yang grit her teeth and tried not to glare at him _too_ obviously. _Who said you could butt in blondie?_

Blake shot Sun a look out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to Yang. "Anyways we should probably get inside and grab a seat before they all get taken. I'll see you inside?"

"Right, good idea. Yeah I'll be coming in once everyone on the guest list has shown up" she said, flicking the clipboard in front of her for emphasis. "You guys have fun!"

With a smile and a wave Blake walked into the ballroom, still clinging tightly to Sun's arm as if he was the only thing to keep her from flying away. Once they were out of sight, Yang allowed her shoulders to sag. Sun? Why in Remnant had she come with _Sun?_ Blake agreed to go with her?

Yang paused for a moment to think things through, something that she wasn't in the habit of doing but had started to practice with Weiss' encouragement. What exactly had she said to Blake last night?

 _If you feel up to it, meet me at the dance tomorrow night._

So that was it. She hadn't said "will you go to the dance with me" or, "be my date tomorrow night" or, "please, please go to the dance with me Blake I have a stupid crush on my partner." No she had just asked her to meet her at the dance, and that's exactly what she did. They'd met as friends, said hello and then Blake had moved on with her date and let Yang to do her job, she did exactly what she should be expected to.

Calmly closing her eyes, Yang swiftly brought up her clipboard and smacked herself in the forehead. _Damn_ she thought _such an idiot_.

The sound of a throat clearing directly in front of her caused her to shoot her eyes open to meet a mustached face staring at her with concern out from under bushy eyebrows. "Ms. Xiao Long, is anything the matter."

"N-nope!" She stammered "Everything's fine Professor Port, just trying to swat a fly! Enjoy your evening!"

The night was going about as well as could she could expect it to. Neptune had apparently gotten off of his high-horse and asked Weiss to dance which left the heiress uncharacteristically giddy, Nora had somehow dragged Ren out on to the dance floor for a dance (to be more precise, Nora was dancing while swinging a very apathetic Ren's arms back and forth), Ruby seemed to be a little bit less tense, and Blake was having fun.

That was Yang's biggest problem currently, Blake was having fun and she _hated_ it. She hated that Blake was laughing, dancing, drinking, and eating with Sun instead of her. She'd come to grips with the fact that she hadn't _technically_ asked Blake to the dance with her but that certainly didn't take the sting out of watching her enjoy herself with someone else.

That simmering anger and frustration was tempered only by the guilt which roiled in her stomach. Hadn't she wanted Blake to take it easy for a night, rest and have some fun for a change? That should be the most important thing, regardless if Yang was a part of it or not. Blake was her partner and it was her job to take care of her. She resolved to try and be happy for her friend, her own emotions be damned.

That didn't stop her from sulking however. By the time she'd finished working the door all the seats at team RWBY and JNPR's table had been taken and despite the fact that they'd all offered to squish together to make room for an extra chair, Yang declined. She was more than happy to retreat to the dark balcony and sit with her thoughts all night. That turned out to be maybe the worst possible choice.

From here she had a bird's-eye-view of the dance floor which of course meant that she ended up watching Blake's sleek form writhe and wriggle in time with the music in that _infuriatingly_ tight dress the entire evening. Well, that wasn't completely true; she'd spent a fair amount of time trying to melt Sun with the force of her glare alone.

Yang just couldn't understand why she'd agreed to go with him. Sure he was a total sweetheart with a gorgeous smile, and he trusted Blake completely, and of course you can't leave out his drool-worthy six-pack…

 _Focus Yang, you're trying to hate this guy remember?_

That was just the problem. She wanted to hate Sun but she really couldn't. He was a jokster of course but his heart was always in the right place. She'd even wanted to be friends with him before tonight's debacle. _He's exactly the kind of person Blake deserves_ she thought slouching deeper into her chair, _not some girl who's too jealous to let their best friend have a little fun._

The noise of stilettos coming up the stairs made her roll her eyes. She'd been alone up here all night, couldn't whoever this girl is just leave her to wallow for a few hours? A sniffle and a quiet sob caused her to sit up straight. While she may have been annoyed at the interruption Yang was never the type to ignore someone suffering, it's why she'd become a huntress in the first place. She turned to the stairwell, ready to console whoever it was walking up the steps. _Probably Nora_ she reasoned, _that girl never learns her lesson when it comes to Ren_.

An obviously distraught Pyrrha Nikos popping into view was the last thing she expected however. The girl looked amazing dressed in a modest scarlet chiffon gown, with her shock of bright hair done up in her trademark ponytail, highlighted elegantly by her golden tiara. The image was marred however by the tears flowing freely from her bright emerald eyes.

"Pyrrha!? What's wrong, did something happen? Are you all right? What am I saying of course you're not alright, look at you! I mean, you look fantastic, but you're crying and… how can I help?" Yang spluttered out while leaping from her seat, knocking it over in the process.

The redhead took a step back defensively "Oh, hello Yang. I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would be up here and I just wanted to-"

"Get away from everyone for a little while?" Yang replied sympathetically.

"Yes, I suppose that's a good way of putting it." Pyrrha replied, hanging her head. It broke Yang's heart to see the indomitable champion look so low. They might not be terribly close but she still wanted to do all she could to help the poor girl.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I'm… fine. It's just that this dance hasn't gone exactly the way I'd hoped it would." Yang let an airy laugh burst out of her mouth.

"Trust me Pyrrha, I know exactly how you feel. Come on, tell Mama Yang all about it." She said, cocking a friendly grin.

The taller girl worked her mouth for a moment, the conflict obvious on her face before eventually breathing out "It's Jaune. I know he asked Weiss, and it's silly but when she said no some part of me thought…"

Yang heaved a sigh and walked forward grabbing her hand. She might not be having fun dancing the night away like her friends, but at least she could help Pyrrha feel a little better.

"Let's go out on the balcony and get some fresh air. I think we could use a break from the music don't you?"


	3. Cold is the night without you here

Yang took Pyrrha's hand and gently lead her to the railing of the balcony. It was a beautiful night and from this high up in beacon tower you could see all the lights of Vale twinkling below. She let her eyes wander on the skyline for a moment or two to try and gather her thoughts. She didn't have much experience with this, her close friends back at Signal had been too young to date, and so far none of her friends here at Beacon had been in any real relationships. Everything she knew, she saw learned from TV and movies. Still, she had to try.

"I'm so sorry for breaking down like this, I don't know what happened it's silly, I should go back inside." The tall redhead blurted out before Yang had a chance to say anything.

"You have nothing to be sorry about Pyrrha, bottling up your emotions isn't healthy, you need to tell someone. And I hope you know you can always talk to me." She replied with a barely repressed sigh. Between Pyrrha and Blake, repressed emotions seemed to be the theme of the week.

"It's just… I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities; I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise; but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place. Everyone assumes I'm too good for them - that I'm on a level that they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people."

Yang was shocked. She had never even thought that Pyrrha may be lonely. Like everyone else she'd confused her many admirers with friends, and now she couldn't help but pull the taller girl into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, I never thought… I want you to know that we're your friends, everyone on JNPR, team RWBY, all of us are here for you and you're not too good for us, you're just right."

The redhead sniffled a little over her shoulder before pulling back. "Thank you so much Yang, that means the world to me" she replied with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Yang knew what the real problem is and it wasn't about her friends.

"You're welcome, but you're still thinking about our Mr. Arc aren't you?" Pyrrha looked away, with a light blush coming to her cheeks.

"I like him Yang… I like him a lot, and I've never… done this before and I have this strange tightness in my chest that won't go away no matter what I do, and every time I see him it pulls tauter. When I see him looking at Weiss it feels… I don't know how to describe it."

"It feels like you can't breathe and you're never going to be okay" Yang whispered, turning away to lean her forearms on the cold railing. Pyrrha took a step back before slowly settling into a position on Yang's left.

"Y-yes I suppose it's something like that but Yang are-" She asked with genuine concern in her face, her own troubles seemingly forgotten. The blonde brawler cut her off with a chuckle and a shake of the head.

"It's not important right now, we were talking about you remember?"

"Okay… but you know this friendship is a two-way street…"

"I'll remember, thanks Pyrrha" Yang quickly replied, shooting her a glance out of the corner of her eye before pushing herself off the banister with a huff and facing the gladiator. "But the important thing to do is talk to him, maybe he likes you, maybe he doesn't, but if you don't ask you'll never know." _Yeah, and if he gives you a vague answer then goes off and dances with some monkey-brained idiot you'll feel about a thousand times worse! Good advice Xiao Long!_

She closed her eyes and blinked the thought away. She was supposed to be helping Pyrrha here not wallowing in her own misery. She had the rest of her life for that.

"Nora's been giving me the same advice for weeks" Pyrrha said with a nod, "I guess I've just been… scared. It's funny really, the invincible girl, afraid of talking to a boy."

"It's natural. Relationships are complicated, and messy, and confusing, and sometimes you get hurt but once in a while, they're worth it, you have to take the chance." She said, still staring out at the lights but not really seeing them, she was thinking about an amber-eyed girl in a silky black dress with a smile that made her light up inside. _I just hope I didn't blow mine._

"Mmmm…" Pyrrha hummed in response "You're right Yang, I should go inside and tell-" She was cut off as the door behind them opened, releasing a rush of warm air and the quiet bubble of music and chatter from inside.

As the two girls whirled around they were met with the sight of Jaune Arc wearing nothing but a frilly white skirt and tennis shoes. Despite his ridiculous appearance the usually shy boy's eyes confidently searched the balcony before coming to rest on Pyrrha, which caused him to break out in a manic grin.

"Hey" he said with a casually wave.

"Jaune… What're you…" Pyrrha stuttered eyes wide in confusion.

"I said if someone didn't ask you to the dance, then I'd show up in a dress. Well, here I am." He said with a gesture towards his attire Yang didn't stop staring at the gangly boy until she heard a choked sob come from Pyrrha. Quickly turning to check to see that her friend was alright, she saw that the gladiator had a hand placed over her mouth and her eyes were sparkling. Despite the fact that it looked like she was on the verge of tears, Yang smirked. _Well it seems like someone's night is about to turn around._

"Yang, do you mind if I steal my partner away for a while?" Jaune asked holding out his hand, never breaking eye contact with the redhead.

She gave Pyrrha a little shove forward before responding. "Not in the least, you two kids have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, and Jaune?"

"Yeah?" he replied, looking at her for the first time since he entered, as his partner grabbed onto his hand and held him close

"You're a lucky guy" she said through a grin.

"Talk to you later, Yang." And with that they went back through the door Jaune had come, leaving the blonde alone on the balcony. She let out a small breath. While she was happy for her friends, she couldn't help but feeling a little worse watching them walk away. Those two getting together felt like the last straw pushing her night over the edge from just bad, to miserable.

As terrible as it was, when Pyrrha was out here with her, she actually felt a little better. At least then she wasn't the only one whose date left her. _But Blake's not your date is she Yang, you never even_ actually _asked her did you?_ No, she didn't she remembered shaking her head. There was nothing she could do about it now. Her partner was inside having fun, probably for the first time in weeks. Blake deserved to be happy, and if Yang couldn't be a part of it, then the least she could do was stay out of her way.

Not feeling quite up to going back inside yet, she pulled out her scroll and headphones from a dress pocket. After popping in her earbuds, she flicked around between playlists for a minute before finally pressing play. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the cool stone of the balcony railing and let herself slip away into the music.

 _There's a ghost in this house and she watches me sleep,_

 _She leaves doors unlocked and she's light on her feet_

 _There's a ghost in this house and she rattles my bones_

 _She's haunting my heart and shaking my soul_

 _But someday she'll be gone and I won't feel her breathe_

 _Every knock on the wall every motionless creak_

 _Someday she'll be gone_

 _Then maybe I'll rest all alone in my bed_

 _'till I miss her to death_

A couple of songs passed, and she started to drift off standing up. Thinking that if she fell asleep on the balcony, Goodwitch would probably assume she was drunk and give her detention, Yang decided she'd better head off to bed. When she opened her lilac eyes however, she was met with an amber pair staring back at her.

"B-Blake! Dust, Blake how long have you been standing there! Were you watching me!?" Yang shouted, ripping the headphones from her ears and quickly shoving them back into your pocket.

"I was. You had a little smile on your face and you just looked so happy and quiet. It was…nice" The Faunus girl said undaunted, lacing her fingers behind her back at the end of her statement. "What were you listening to?"

"Nothing, just some music I used to play a lot back in patch" Yang said, finally regaining some of her composure.

"Can you show me?"

 **A/N Okay so I know this chapter was a little rushed, but I** ** _needed_** **to put a little Arkos in this chapter (Since the cannon dance was so Arkos-focused) and I'm still mourning the death of this ship. Also I wanted to get back to the bees as soon as possible!**

 **The song Yang's listening to is "How To Live With a Ghost" by Nick Santino**


	4. Late night heartbreak

Blake stared at her with that open, earnest look on her face that she so rarely showed the world and never failed to make Yang weak at the knees. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and quickly moved her eyes to the ground, though Blake had probably caught her staring already.

"Wanna share?" She asked, holding one earbud out to her which shorter girl placed in her own right ear, as Yang put its twin in her left. They were so close that Yang could feel the heat of Blake's arm radiating against her bare skin. Yang itched to touch her, to pull her close, bury her nose in her hair and get lost in the sensation but she didn't. Instead she dug her fingers into the concrete of the balcony, and ground her teeth as she played the next song.

 _It's the first defeat_

 _It cuts you to your bones_

 _Knocks you off your feet_

 _And you discover that home_

 _Is not a person or a place_

 _But a feeling you can't get back_

Shooting a look out of the corner of her eye, Yang saw Blake had her head tipped back towards the sky and watched as her eyes fluttered gently closed as she fell into the song. _She's so pretty. Dang it Belladonna why you gotta' be so friggin' attractive?_ She consciously tore her eyes away from the faunus girl and focused on mentally drawing the constellations between stars. _The Two Brothers, The Spring Maiden…._

 _It's the little things_

 _That convince me to stay_

 _It's your fingertips_

 _And the music they play_

 _To the beat of my heart_

 _And the rhythm our bodies make_

Yang heard a soft sigh coming from her right. "I'm sorry, do you want me to change the song?" She whispered

"No," Blake said with a shake of her head "no it's strange and sad but it's kind of… nice." Yang smiled and returned her gaze to the sky _The Winter Maiden, The Man With Two Souls…_ her star-gazing was interrupted by the feeling of soft hair ghosting across her skin and the weight of a head resting on her shoulder.

She froze. What was she supposed to do? Not fifteen minutes ago Blake was dancing and laughing with Sun, completely ignoring her, and now, when she wanted a break from the dancing she just _expected_ Yang to be available for her? It wasn't fair. She wasn't just some blonde-bimbo that could be picked up and toyed with whenever it suited Blake. She could feel the anger that had been smoldering in her stomach all night start the kindle, and she tried has hard as she could not to tremble

When Blake purred in contentment _actually purred_ , which Yang would have found adorable under any other circumstances, it was the last straw. With an irritated shake of her shoulders she knocked Blake off her impromptu pillow causing the faunus to take a stumbling step forward to gain her balance.

"Stop" Yang barked with a voice that sounded a little harsher and a little angrier than she had intended. Blake looked up at her with a confused and hurt expression on her face. Against all reason or common sense, Yang felt an instantaneous urge to apologize, but her irritation and wounded pride quickly drowned out any apology that rose to her mind.

"What?" Blake asked, eyes widening in hurt and confusion.

"Stop, just-" Yang took a deep breath, hoping that it would steady her a little bit. It didn't. "Stop playing games with me. You're with Sun, I know that, I respect that and as you're teammate, your partner and your friend, I'm happy for you. But you can't do this to me Blake, you can't just pretend…" She took a shaky step back and quieted down partially because her mind failed her and she ran out of things to say, but also because she could feel the sob welling up in her throat and she was so angry right now that she would _not_ give Blake the luxury of seeing her cry because of her.

"With Sun… Yang what are you talking about?' Blake said striding closer, closing the small gap Yang had attempted to make while taking the blonde's hands in her own. "Yang I only came because you asked me to, I've been looking for you all night. I finally tracked you down after Weiss said she saw you come out here with Pyrrha."

Yang wouldn't let herself be fooled, not like she already had been. Blinking back the tears which had started to glisten in the corner of her eyes, she forced a smile onto her face and it made her stomach twist up. "I saw you inside, you looked happy. Heck, you looked the happiest I've seen you in…" An image of the two of them in their pajamas sitting on Yang's bunk back in the dorm, laughing like they didn't have a care in the world came to mind unbidden, but she thrust it aside as fast as she could. She didn't need to think about things like that right now "in a long time."

Blake cocked her head to the side, the confusion never leaving her eyes, and still lightly holding the blonde's fingers in her own _dust she has soft hands_ Yang thought, before squashing that thought down too. "Yeah," the faunus muttered "I was having fun but I missed you. Weiss is being miserable for some reason, and we know how Ruby is around crowds…"

So that's what it was. Any lingering hope that Yang had was snuffed out with those words. Blake was just looking for a friend. She didn't think of her any differently than she thought about her other too teammates. Delicately, she untangled her fingers from her partners and her heart broke a little more at the loss of contact.

"Yang…" Blake all but whispered. She plastered that sickeningly fake smile on her face again. She hated lying, and hated lying to her best friend even more but she had to do this. She had to stop hurting and this was the only way she could do it without hurting Blake as well.

"Sorry I'm actually not feeling too great, that's why I haven't been dancing. I think I'm actually gonna head out. You go back inside, I'm sure Ruby will come around she just needs a little push sometimes." With that she turned on her heel and strode purposefully away from Blake who still had her hands held halfway up, looking bewildered. She refused to look back, she knew she would breakdown if she did and she couldn't break. Yang Xiao Long did. Not. Break.

"YANG!" She heard the dark haired girl call after her, but she ground her teeth and put both headphones back in her ears and resumed the song they had been listening to, trying desperately not to let the tears flow until she was back in the safety of her own dorm again.

 _But this will be the last time_

 _Honey, this will be the last time_

 _This will be the last time_

 _You take me_

 _Just friends, just friends, just friends…_ she repeated to herself as she quietly walked home through the dark streets of Vale.

* * *

 **A/N: VERY short chapter here, sorry about that but I really wanted to emphasize the importance of this scene to the story. More to come soon!**

 **I may up the rating on this fic in the coming chapters, just to warn you**

 **The song they listen to is "First Defeat" by Noah Gunderson**


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